On Nov. 21, the Bates alpine ski team left campus and traveled to Loveland, Colorado, where they spent ten days at their pre-season training camp. 

This is a new tradition for the team: Usually their pre-season camp is spent at Sunday River, their home resort, in Newry, Maine. After rough conditions the past few years, however, Head Coach Kurt Simard proposed taking the team to Colorado. 

Although the athletes had to pay for a portion of the trip out of pocket and endured the stress of traveling, the trip afforded the team a great early-season foundation. The training and snow conditions were great in Colorado. 

Since Colorado has more snow than Maine, the team was able to get a good Giant Slalom training block in. Giant Slalom (GS) is a ski racing discipline that involves racing between sets of poles. The discipline is more difficult to train early in the season because it requires a better surface and a longer, snow-covered trail. Colorado mountains which are open for longer and have more terrain open, offer better Giant Slalom training. 

When asked what the main focus for the team was going into this camp, Simard said, “I wanted us to build momentum particularly in GS. I wanted to get some mileage under us, and develop a good foundation for the season.” 

Even though the trip created more stress points with finances and traveling, the team was enthusiastic and motivated for the duration of the camp.

Coming into the camp, there were many focuses for the team. In an interview with team captain Helena Jankovic ‘28, she said that her goal for the team was to “get everyone back on snow.” She added that “for most people, it had been a few months since we had skied last.” 

“Gaining an early foundation is really important. The conditions are going to be beneficial for everyone to get their technique dialed and get a feel for what they need to work on in their skiing going into the season,” Jankovic continued.

Simard specifically noted that he wanted his athletes to gain clarity on their weak points in their skiing, and what they needed to work on to address those deficiencies. Developing a technique baseline early in the season is crucial for later success. 

The alpine team worked hard all fall to prepare for this camp, and their season. Whether it was in the gym, on the track, or running sprints up Mount David, the team put in the work to prime their bodies to handle the demands of ski racing. Jankovic elaborated, “the time we spent in the gym was super critical for our success in Colorado. Having solid strength is super important to make the movement patterns necessary in skiing.”

While the team worked hard to hone their bodies for success on snow, Jankovic also emphasized the mental aspect of skiracing. “Mental health gets really hard once we are in season, and it’s really easy to get down on ourselves for poor performances. Bates offers a mental training service, Kumba, which I recommended my teammates utilize. I think as a team using Kumba individually would be pivotal to ensure our success on the hill.” 

Jankovic also wanted to remind the ski team the importance of mental resilience in skiing, as the season is very long and it’s important to remember there’s always another race, another day of training, etc., to improve.

Caroline and I, as members of the Bates Alpine Ski Team, had the special privilege to experience, firsthand, the team’s life at training camp. 

A majority of the team’s days were early, with the alarm going off at 4:30 a.m. for a 6:30 a.m. training session. They get up, get ready, and have a nutrient-rich breakfast to fuel that day’s training session. Then, they load the trucks and leave their condo for Loveland Ski Area. 

Once they get to the mountain, they unload, and head to the lodge before getting ready. While they do their warmup exercise and suit up, the coaches are on the hill setting the course. Once everyone’s ready, they head out and do a couple warmup runs, where the focus is on slow drills to get their feet back under them. Then, they inspect the course. 

Inspecting means slowly sliding through the course, noticing the orientation of the gates and places to take note of. Everyone then visualizes themselves skiing the course as they do this. Finally, it’s time to train. The athletes take between five and eight runs in the course in a typical training session, receiving feedback from their coaches over radios as needed. At the end of training, everyone helps coaches Jake Johnston and Simard pull the course, and head back to the condos.

 Back at the condo, the rest of the day is spent relaxing, doing an easy recovery walk or jog, and tuning skis for the next day. After every day of training, a skier has to tune their skis, by waxing them to keep their bases fast, and sharpening their edges. At last, the day wraps up with some video analysis and an early bedtime around 9 p.m.

“Everyone did a super good job of putting in a lot of effort on and off the hill. Everyone’s tired at the end of training, but still made sure to get some recovery in and tune their skis,” concluded Jankovic. 

This year, the alpine team had a record number of eight new freshmen, four boys and four girls. Almost half the team (20 members) is made up of first year students. 

Coaches Simard and Jankovic remarked on the positive impact the first years had during camp. “The freshmen have done a really great job coming into the new environment of the team and college in general. Also, the freshman energy and dedication was really contagious to everyone, and I am certain they are going to bring a new force to Bates Alpine Skiing,” said Jankovic. 

“It was exciting to see eight new Bobcats out there. Overall, everybody got something out of this trip and worked hard and took advantage of it,” Simard said. 

Unlike most sports at Bates, skiing is unique in that the boys and girls teams travel together, train together and operate as one team with two coaches for both groups. This aspect of the sport leads to a very tight-knit team culture among the men’s and women’s side. The team shares goals, motivation and works together to “go the extra mile.” During the camp, the team definitely got closer and bonded even more. 

When asked about his thoughts on the team work ethic during camp, Coach Simard said, “I’m impressed with the student-athletes on this team and how much they’re willing to work hard and that they’re willing to sacrifice Thanksgiving with family to work as a team together. It’s a big commitment of time, energy, and effort, and I’m proud of the Bates Bobcats team.” 

Missing Thanksgiving with family is always difficult, but the Bobcats made the most of their experience. They cooked a big dinner as a team and sat down, ate together and shared what they were grateful for.

Skiracing is a unique sport in that it’s considered a team sport but there still is a large individual aspect. Carnival races, for example, are weekend-long events featuring Slalom and GS, that all the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association (EISA) colleges participate in from early January to the end of February. Here, every racer competes and scores points for their teams.

EISA is the league the Bates Ski Team competes in, and it is considered NCAA Division I. However, outside of the carnival season, the Bates team races at FIS races, which anyone registered with a FIS license can race at. FIS races are elite, internationally competitive ski races organized by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation. 

At these races, a collegiate athlete races for themself, with the goal of scoring FIS points for themself. Also, in skiracing, everything happens in a minute to minute and a half time period. In Slalom and Giant Slalom, racers complete two runs and their two run times are combined for a total time. A small mistake in such a short time can be very costly. “People don’t realize how mentally and physically taxing skiing is,” said Captain Jankovic. 

Overall, the team had a successful camp experience, and Simard added that “the most important takeaway from Colorado is to take the foundation that we got there and continue to stay on task and not drift into many other things. We need to stay on track with the things we’ve identified that are important, and keep working on them until we’re doing them at a high level.” 

Jankovic is very excited for the upcoming season. When asked what one thing she is looking forward to is, she said, “I’m super excited for the Williams Carnival. I grew up skiing in Western Massachusetts, and Jiminy Peak, Williams’ home hill, is only 20 minutes from my house, so all the girls will stay with me. It’s going to be a great bonding experience, and I’m excited for everyone to meet my grandma.” 

The Bates alpine ski team had a productive pre-season camp where skiers established a solid technical foundation that they will carry into the rest of the season. They also bonded and strengthened their team culture. We’re looking forward to seeing how the Bobcats perform this season!